Becoming a U.S. citizen wasn’t just a formality to Claire Wardle, associate professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“People still do practice the ideals that were written down on parchment about 250 years ago, and that is kind of extraordinary,” said Wardle, one of 20 people from 12 countries who swore the oath of allegiance to the United States to become new citizens at a naturalization ceremony held at the College of Veterinary Medicine on July 23.

Credit: Ryan Young/Cornell University

When Wardle first came to the U.S. from Northampton, U.K., she discovered the belief structure of democratic ideals she’d learned about as a student of American studies is real and makes the union stronger.

“I think that is very different to almost all countries,” she said. “To come here and feel like you’re welcomed, and be told as part of that, ‘This is what we believe in’ – it’s very powerful.”

At the ceremony, an officer of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services read the petitioners’ names and asked Tompkins County Court Judge Scott A. Miller to grant a motion for their naturalization.

After administering the oath of allegiance, Miller welcomed the new citizens home.

“Yes, there appear to be setbacks at times,” he said, “but the arc of our shared history favors progress and favors the expansion of opportunity for all. I remain hopeful, particularly because of the infusion this nation receives on days like today, the infusion of your combined intellects, passions, cultures, creativity and love that you bring with you from your countries of origin.”

Delivering the ceremony’s keynote speech, Provost Kavita Bala held up a copy of a letter signed by then-President George W. Bush that she received after her own naturalization in 2004. She said she still finds the words moving today.

“Our country has never been united by blood or birth or soil,” she read from the letter. “We are bound by principles that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every citizen must uphold these principles, and every new citizen, by embracing these ideas, makes our country more, not less, American.”

Miller said citizenship requires extraordinary courage, particularly during these “most interesting of times.”

“You must remain informed and engaged,” he said. “You must participate in the political process, exercise that First Amendment right to state your objection to any wrongs you encounter, show up at the ballot box and cast your vote.”

Wardle barely stopped to celebrate her new citizenship with her mother and best friend before making a beeline for the voter registration table just outside the lecture hall.

Wardle applied for citizenship to feel like she is a part of the country she has called home for more than 10 years. “And basically, I also want to vote – desperately,” she said.

Bala asked the new citizens to safeguard the justice, peace, well being and freedom of the country that has welcomed them. 

“For me, that vision of being in the ‘land of the free’ has always been what the promise of America is about,” she said. “Free to be who you are; free to say what you believe; free to pursue happiness.”

Wardle intended to start creating community that night – by hosting a party to celebrate her new citizenship.

“The strength of this country comes from building this kind of network and this fabric,” she said, “so my contribution will be to have some chilled beers and to buy some pizza and to open my home to my friends and family.”